Most people can get into or out of a bathtub with little difficulty. However, for a person that is physically handicapped or of advanced age, entry or exit from a bathtub can be very difficult. Furthermore, the smooth tub surface provides few handholds and can become quite slippery when it is wet. Therefore, current tub designs do not provide the safety or convenience that is required by many people.
A number of bathtub modifications and devices are available to help alleviate the above noted problems and difficulties. The most simple of these is the addition of handrails to the sides of the tub and the adjacent walls. This however, does not adequately help those individuals whose arms are somewhat weak due to advanced age or to some handicap.
A number of prior art inventions have been made in the field of movable tub platforms. These platforms either comprise the tub bottom or rest atop the tub bottom and function to temporarily reduce the height difference between the top of the tub's walls and the tub's bottom. Basically, the prior art movable tub platforms are modified commercial type lifts which the user controls with a manual switch. These devices require an external electric or hydraulic power source and can be quite complicated to install, operate or maintain. They operate in a manner which is completely independent of the tub conditions and therefore do not take advantage of the user's weight or the weight of any water within the tub.